1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to nail driving apparatus and more particularly to a novel accessory for holding a nail on the driving or striking head of a hammer so that the nail may be started or centered without the user having to hold the nail.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
It has been the conventional practice in a nailing procedure to hold the shank of the nail with the fingers of one hand while the user's other hand holds the hammer and strikes the head of the nail in order to drive the nail into wood or the like. Generally, the user visually aligns the striking path of the hammer head with the head of the nail so that a firm solid impact is imparted to the nail for driving purposes. In most instances, this method is acceptable and has proven to be reasonably fast.
However, problems and difficulties are encountered when the workman or user is attempting to center or drive a nail into a location which is not readily accessible or in which he cannot adequately visually align the swinging travel of the hammer head with the head of the nail. At some construction sights, the workmen must work work on platforms or at elevated heights and where he must lean or hold on to a structure with one hand while nailing and swinging the hammer with the other hand. In this latter instance, he cannot hold or otherwise support the nail for centering or initial driving purposes. Once the nail has been suitably started, then only one hand is required for swinging the hammer. However, during the initial centering and starting phase of the nailing procedure, both hands are normally required. In some instances, the workman may either drill a small hole or punch a small hole into the wood intended to receive the driving nail. This procedure, of course, is time consuming and requires additional tools and operations preceeding the actual driving of the nail.
Therefore, a long standing need has existed to provide a novel nailing accessory which will readily hold the nail onto the hammer as it is swung so that the nail will be suitably started and which can be conveniently achieved as a one hand operation.